ABSTRACT
Speaking before a gathering of mayors and superintendents in March 2009, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan urged the mayors to assume greater responsibility for improving public education (Quaid, 2009). Secretary Duncan took the position that mayors can provide steady and strong leadership to raise school performance in urban schools. At other public events, the secretary made reference to his experience as CEO of Chicago Public Schools in engaging outsider organizations to manage and turn around the district’s lowest performing schools. Secretary Duncan’s remarks illustrate the growing interest in mayoral accountability in a climate of declining public confi dence in urban schools. How schools are governed, in other words, has gained national attention.
